Coating flexible objects of organic origin with metal.



ROBERT RAFN. or NUREMBERG, GERMANY.

COATING FLEXIBLE OBJECTS OF ORGANIC ORIGIN WITH METAL.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern: I Be it known that 1, Roman Ram, a citizcn of the Norwegian Kingdom, residing at Nuremberg, Germany, have invented ccr tain new and useful improvements in the Coating of Flexible Objects of Organic Origin with Metal, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in coating of flexible ob ec-ts of or ganic origin with metal and applies more particularly to the process of metallizmg textile fabrics, laces, feathers, textile fibers, and other flexible finely-porous cellular or fibrous material, by assing these ob ects through the electric fie (1 containing the el ectrode dust resulting from the disintegration of metallic electrodes in a vacuum.

The improvement consists in an increased adhesion between the object and the metallic dust which is lodged in a minutely thin layer in the superficial pores of the Ob ect and in increased economy of metal required for the depositing process. According to the present invention this is attained by means of a coat of drying oil that solidifies to a lac quer or varnish film on the fiber and fixes the metallic dust upon the surface.

In carrying out this process preferably proceed as follows: I dip the ob ect n question in a solution of a suitable drying Oll, evaporate the volatile solvent and pass the object through the electric field of the metallizing apparatus. Oils suitable for this purpose are chiefly the so-called drying oils, such as linseed-, poppy-, nut-, rhicinus-ml etc. Among these the rhicinus-oil has proved particularly well adapted chiefly because of its low vapor tension, which insures a good vacuum in the apparatus and because its products of decomposition are practically non-odorous. Besides these oils I may also use other oils which strictly speaking, are not drying oils, but which have obtained through heating partial decomposition etc. to some extent the faculty of solidifying. Suitable solvents are: benzol, alcohol etc. The most practical way of effecting the impregnation is to employ a rather dilute soIution of the oil, as the amount of oil that may be used without impairing the softness and flexibility of the fiberis exceedingly small.

A good way of testing whether the proper amount of oil has been used, is to see that the oiled and dried object, when rubbed against Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 17, 1914.

Patented Nov. 24, 1914-.

Serial No. 867,245.

paper. spot.

Simultaneously with the process of n1etalliving a transformation of the absorbed oil takes place; presuu'iably the active light that radiates from the working electrodes plays an important part in this process in effect-- ing a polymerization of the oil and causing it to be oxidized by the remnants of air still present in the apparatus and thus giving rise to the production of compounds of the peroxid type, which in turn acelerate the further oxidation of the remaining oil in the air.

The process here described gives a product the softness and flexibility of which has not leaves a hardly perceptible grease been perceptibly influenced by the infinitesimal coating of metal and lacquer that covers it. The metal adheres very firmly, and a much smaller amount of metal is required for completely covering and coloring the objects than is the case when no oil is used.

With thick and bulky materials I may remove the oil that remains undecomposed and liquid in the interior of the fibers after the metallization by extracting it with a solvent. A fixation of the metallic coating may also be effected by applying a drying oil to the metallized article and transformi ng the oil into a lacquer for instance by exposing it to the action of the light of the mercury lamp. In this case the transformation of the oil into; a lacquer is likewise limited to the surface of the article so that the remaining unchanged oil in the interior may be subsequently extracted by means of a solvent. This process of subsequently producing a coating of lacquer upon the metallized article appearsas far as my experience shows-somewhat inferior to the firstly described process of oiling the article before meta-llization. Previous oiling of the material insures a considerable saving of metal, as a brighter gloss and color of the metal is obtained with much less metal than is possible on the dry fiber. The explanation hereof may be that the oil makes the surface of the fiber evener or smoother, so that the surface to be covered becomes in effect smaller and that the metallic dust is prevented by the oil from penetrating into the deeper pores. Another useful effect of the oil lies in the fact that for instance on gilding an object the first incomplete layer of gold upon the dry fiber appears blue while upon oil it gives a red which latter color is more easily covered by gold than is blue.

While as long as it is not exposed to moisture the metallic coat adheres very firmly without any further fixation, it is an important merit of this invention, that it renders the metallized articleproof against the action of water.

In depositing the metal upon the oiled material a complete enveloping of the metal by the lacquer does not take place, but the surface remains free from lacquer which is shown by its faculty of being easily amalgamated. The deposition of the metal may be accomplished, for example, under conditions as described in U. S. patent to Rain & Schmidmer, No. 1,099,934, dated June 16, 1914.

What I claim is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a flexible base of organic origin having applied thereto, by a process of electrical disintegration, an adherent, tenuous coating of finely disintegrated metal intimately associated with a film of dried oil, said article exhibiting both the color and the luster of the metal and the surface character of the organic base.

2. The process of producing adherent coatings of metal upon a suitable base, which consists in electrically disintegrating the metal in vacuo in presence of the base and depositing it thereon, and improving the adherence of the metal by hardening a" film of oil in intimate association with said metal and base.

3. The process of producing adherent coatings of metal upon a suitable base, which consists in electrically disintegrating the metal in 'vacuo in presence of the base and depositing it thereon, and improving the adherence of the metal by simultaneously hardening a film of oil in intimate association with said metal and base.

i. The process of producing adherentcoatings of metal upon a suitable base, which consists in electrically disintegrating the metal in 'vacuo in presence of the base and depositing it thereon, and improving the adherence of the metal by superficially hardening a film of oil in intimate association with said metal and base, and thereafter removing any unchanged oil.

5. The process of producing adherent coatings of electrically disintegrated metal upon a suitable base, which consists in applying'a drying oil to said base, and simultaneously depositing a metal coating on the base by a process of electrical disintegration, and hardening said oil.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT RAFN.

Witnesses: I

K. VON KROGH, BoLn'r'rn IIOLM 

